"The House of No Return" is the first short story in the book Tales to Give You Goosebumps.
Plot
The story centers around 12-year-old best friends Robbie, Lori and Nathan. They are part of a club called "Danger, Inc." of which they are the only members, and pride themselves on being the boldest children they know, who will take any dare they are offered.
They become interested in Chris Wakely, a new boy in town, and encourage him to join them. He is not very brave and does not want to take part in their antics. They dare him to spend an hour in the "House of No Return", a boarded-up old house which none of the local children will enter because it is rumored to be haunted. The story is that a man made this house for his wife and they had a baby girl. But sadly, the baby fell through a weak spot, falling to her death. After that, the childless parents went mad, never leaving their house. One day, the police went inside their house to find both of them dead. Chris reluctantly agrees and they shut him inside. When he does not return, they go to look for him. The door seals shut behind them, so they cannot escape. Then the two ghosts come down the stairs.
The ghosts explain that Chris came to the house some time ago. But they allowed him to go, because he promised that three other children would be following him. They also say that now Robbie, Lori, and Nathan will stay in the house forever as replacements for the ghosts' lost child.
Television adaptation
"The House of No Return" was adapted into an episode of the Goosebumps TV series. It is the third episode of season three, and the forty-fifth episode overall.
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Trivia
- One of the kids mentions dressing up as Freddy Krueger, the killer in the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, for Halloween.
- This story was published outside of the Tales to Give You Goosebumps series; it appears in the 2003 anthology book Scary! 2: More Stories that Will Make You Scream!.